Mammoth Lakes Homicide Case Summary Detective Sergeant Paul Dostie Mammoth Lakes Police Department On May 25, 2003 a hiker walking his dog above the Shady Rest campground in Mammoth Lakes, was alerted to an object by his dog. When the hiker went to investigate what his dog had found, he discovered a human skull. Several days after the discovery of the skull a law enforcement officer was searching the area and discovered a shallow grave with human remains inside and scattered around the area. The remains appeared to have been dug up by animals. Coyotes and Black Bears are common to the area. The location where the skull was found and where the gravesite discovered, is located behind the US Forest Service Visitor Center. A forensic team from the California Department of Justice responded from the Fresno Regional Crime Lab to process the crime scene. In addition to the human remains, clothing including size 1 / 2 pants, 32A bra, Bass size 5M shoes, small top, "Cold Air Design" coat and a "Jacqueline Smith" watch that was still running. The victim's remains were transported to a Bay Area Medical Examiners office, for examination by a Forensic Anthropologist. Based on the examination the victim was determined to be an Asian female, (possibly South East Asian based on her size), 30 to 40 years old, 4 foot, 6 inches tall plus or minus 2 inches, with evidence that the victim carried a fetus to full term. It was estimated that the victim had been dead for 6 to 9 months and had spent the winter under the snow. DNA was extracted and the DNA was entered in the missing persons system as well as the VICAP system. A press release was circulated in the local media. Employees from the US Forest Service Visitor Center contacted the MLPD Detective Division on June 12, 2003. They remembered an incident from the fall of 2002 when a very short Asian looking female came into the Visitor Center with her white male husband. The woman told an employee that her husband treats her badly and she was fearful of him. Another USFS employee gave the woman a card to the local "Wild Iris" Domestic Violence Center. The woman's husband spoke to another employee and asked the employee about campsite rules and stay limits. The employee described the woman's husband as "abrasive" and "mean spirited". The male was described as white, heavyset, 5foot 9 inches tall, 175 to 200 pounds, with brown hair. Because of importance of the information provided by the witnesses, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Division was contacted. MLPD detectives requested that a forensic artist be sent to Mammoth Lakes to sketch the witness descriptions of the possible victim and suspect. LASD forensic artist Sandy Enslow responded to Mammoth Lakes. Ms. Enslow interviewed the witnesses and based on the interviews she drew two pictures, one of the possible suspect and one of the possible victim. A flyer with the basic case information and the two drawings were circulated. A few leads were developed and followed up on. One theory was that the woman was an Asian "mail order bride". Detectives followed up on this theory both inside and outside the United States without success. In early 2004, Mono County Sheriff's Department Investigator John Rutkowski attended a California Homicide Investigators Training Conference. A demonstration was put on by a company called DNA Print Genomics from Sarasota, Florida. This company uses DNA to determine "Biogeographical Ancestry", (BGA). Race is determined by their extensive database of DNA markers. They cross check this by comparing how people report their ethnicity when asked during DNA testing. MLPD requested that DNA of the victim be sent to DNA Print for further analysis. In late August of 2004, the results from DNA Print came in. The BGA DNA analysis showed that the victim was 100% Native American. Dr. Matt Thomas from DNA Print told MLPD detectives that there were no other races, (European, Asian, African), indicated in the victims DNA. Mammoth Lakes Police Detectives took possession of the victim's remains and DNA from the Sheriff-Coroner for further scientific investigation. The victim's remains were transported to the laboratory of Dr. Phil Walker at the University of Santa Barbara. Dr. Walker is president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Dr. Walker had a radiographic examination done of the victim's remains by Dr. Thor Gjerdrum in Santa Maria, California. During Dr. Walker's examination of the remains he looked at a piece of dried skin. Most of the remains had been chewed on by animals. Dr. Walker saw two penetrations into the skin that appeared to be stab wounds from a knife. Forensic Pathologist Dr. Robert Anthony from NCFP Medical Corporation was called in to examine the wounds. Dr. Anthony concluded that the wounds were consistent with stab wounds from a weapon. Dr. Walker took precise Craniometric measurements of the victim's skull. He transmitted these measurements to Dr. Steve Ousley at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Dr. Ousley ran the measurements obtained by Dr. Walker through the Smithsonian's data base using the Fordisc Discriminant Analysis Program. The results were consistent with someone of Hispanic origin with Native American Ancestry. Dr. Walker forwarded information to MLPD about recent studies of the DNA of Native Americans. He forwarded a copy of a scientific paper co-authored by Dr. Henry Erlich, of Roche Molecular Systems in Alameda, California, entitled "HLA Diversity, Differentiation, and Haplotype Evolution in Mesoamerican Natives". HLA is an acronym for Human Leukocyte Antigen. The HLA genes encode highly polymorphic proteins that reside on the surface of the cells. These polymorphisms are represented in thousands of different allele combinations. DNA was sent to Dr. Erlich for genotyping. Dr. Erlich's examination of loci, showed that the victim's genotype is homozygous, (two copies of the same allele), and is consistent with Native American populations from southern Mexico and Guatemala. Dr. Walker also gave MLPD information regarding research into the use of Mitochondrial DNA, (mtDNA) in study of different Native American tribes. Sandy Calloway at Roche Molecular Systems was contracted to genotype and sequence the mtDNA. The results were sent to Dr. John Johnson at the Museum of Natural History in Santa Barbara and Dr. David Glenn Smith, professor of Molecular Anthropology at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Johnson compared the mtDNA to his databank. He found that the victim closely matched that of "California Spanish" which is consistent with people from southern Mexico. Dr. Smith ran the victim's mtDNA data through his data bank. He had a very close match to his sample of a Zapotec Indian. The Zapotec's are from the southern state of Oaxoca, Mexico. Dr. Smith requested that an area of the mtDNA be amplified by Sandy Calloway. Sandy Calloway amplified the region in question and the information was sent to Dr. Smith. Dr. Smith told MLPD that the victim was a perfect match for their Zapotec Indian sample. Dr. Walker suggested that we do an isotopic examination of the victims hair. Hair was sent to Dr. Henry Schwarcz at MacMasters University in Hamilton, Canada. Dr. Schwarcz is a professor of geology at the university. Dr. Schwarcz concluded that the victim had a diet that included significantly more maize (corn) then the average American. The length of the hair went back 1.4 years. This is consistent with diet of Central Americans. The victim did not have seafood in her diet, indicating that she was possibly from an inland area of Oaxaca. Dr. Schwarcz conducted an isotopic examination of the victim's bone and teeth. Dr. Schwarcz uses a Finnigan Delta Plus XP continuous flow stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Dr. Schwarcz used baby teeth from a child that spent his entire life in Mammoth Lakes, drinking Mammoth water as a control and to determine if the victim spent any length of time in Mammoth Lakes. The isotope signal in rain changes gradually across the earth's surface. Since people mainly drink water coming from local rain, we can use isotopes in a human body to tell something about where the person was living when a given body part was formed. This is especially useful for studying teeth and bones, which record the isotopes in the water a person was drinking at the time a particular tooth or bone was growing. Using these methods, Dr. Schwarcz was able to learn something about the life history of the victim. When the victim was a child she could have lived somewhere in northern Mexico but equally well in the southwestern United States. It is even possible that she could have lived in the greater Los Angeles area because rain falling there matches her teeth. However, most of the drinking water in LA comes from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and it is very different from LA rainfall. Also, the carbon isotopes in the victim's teeth tell us that, as a child, the victim lived on a diet of almost pure maize (corn). This is poor diet for a growing child, and could account for her small stature, (4'6" to 4'9" tall). The isotopes in bones keep changing throughout life, and tell us where a person lived for the last 10 years before death. Surprisingly, it was discovered that the victim must have spent those last 10 years in southern Mexico or elsewhere in Central America. Her diet during those years was much more balanced than during her childhood and perhaps during the past few months of her life (which was recorded in her hair). The victim's life history could be as follows. She was born and raised through childhood in the American Southwest or in northern Mexico, and subsisted on a very poor diet including a great deal of corn. Sometime later she moved south, perhaps to southern Mexico, possibly Oaxaca, where she spent about 10 years of her life. Finally, the last 2 years of her life the victim traveled to California where she was killed. Dr. Schwarcz has never before used isotopic analysis in a criminal investigation. Isotopic analysis of bone and hair, up until this point, has been used in the field of anthropology for the study of ancient peoples. Because of the specific information obtained through forensic science, it was decided that a full facial reconstruction of the victim's should be done. The skull was sent to Betty Pat Gatliff of the Skullpture Lab in Norman, Oklahoma. Betty Pat Gatliff along with Dr. Clyde Snow developed what is now known as the "American Method" of skull reconstruction in the 1960's. Betty Pat teaches at the FBI Academy. When the photos were received of the skull reconstruction, it was remarkable how closely it resembled the drawing of the victim that was done based on what the witnesses from the US Forest Visitor Center saw in the fall of 2002. Betty Pat Gatliff did not see Sandy Enslow's drawing prior to doing her the reconstruction. Because the victim was found on a hill near the US Forest Service Visitor Center, and the fact that witnesses at the USFS Visitor Center spoke to a woman in fear of her husband, that fits the victim's physical description, and the fact that a drawing of the woman at the USFS Visitor Center closely matches the skull reconstruction of the victim, then the drawing of the victim's husband is most likely a drawing of the suspect. Because the couple is so unique, (4'6" to 4'9" tall Indian/Hispanic woman and a 5'9" tall, 175 to 200 pound white man), detectives feel that maximum exposure in the press to this story and the pictures of the victim and her husband could lead to tips from citizens, that could identify this woman and solve this case.

Home | Articles | Instructors | Courses | Schedule  | Store | Links | E-Mail Copyright © 2001 Cadaverdog, Inc. All Rights Reserved